Bruce forced into rethink on captaincy by Cattermole's latest early exit

Wigan Athletic 1 Sunderland 1

Bruce forced into rethink on captaincy by Cattermole's latest early exit

Independent.ie

Lee Cattermole's tenure as Sunderland captain could be short-lived. Two dismissals in four games has left manger Steve Bruce considering a change of mind because the responsibility may be proving too much.

Lee Cattermole's tenure as Sunderland captain could be short-lived. Two dismissals in four games has left manger Steve Bruce considering a change of mind because the responsibility may be proving too much.

"I made a big decision in the summer to give him the captaincy and I will review it in the next week or so," Bruce said.

Cattermole, playing against his old club, received his second yellow card inside four minutes, reducing Sunderland to 10 men for the remaining 68. But they held out for a valuable point thanks to a stunning debut goal from £13m record signing Asamoah Gyan.

Cattermole also saw red in the opening game against Birmingham and served a one-match suspension.

Trouble

That will now double and Bruce warned: "He has got to learn. If he doesn't, there comes a point when he is in trouble and he could have half his career frittered away with suspensions."

Bruce dismissed suggestions of a witch hunt, although he claimed: "I do believe every time he mistimes a tackle, it is a yellow card. He is highly competitive, although I have never seen him maliciously hurt anybody, but once he has a yellow card he has to learn.''

Wigan failed to make numerical superiority pay and their manager Roberto Martinez claimed: "The sending off made it difficult because we had to find the solutions and they didn't, and that helped them."